NASA just picked 12 new astronauts out of 18,300 applicants, and they’re all awesome

NASA just announced its newest class of astronauts, a crew of Americans from around the country who are entering the space agency at a time of transition.

The 12 new astronauts could have the chance to fly to orbit aboard privately built space capsules, and launch to deep space destinations like the moon or Mars aboard NASA-made ships that are still in development today.

In total, NASA chose these 12 people from the record number of 18,300 applications they received, far more than the previous record of 8,000 set in 1978, NASA said. Read more...